Cubs’ Cade Horton won’t pitch against Brewers in NLDS as he recovers from rib injury

By Canadian Press on October 3, 2025.

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Chicago Cubs rookie Cade Horton won’t pitch in the NL Division Series against the Milwaukee Brewers as he recovers from a rib fracture that sent him on the injured list during the regular season’s final week.

Cubs manager Craig Counsell made that announcement Friday, the day before his team begins the best-of-5 series in Milwaukee.

“We’re encouraging healing right now, so we’re not doing anything that would cause pain,” Counsell said. “We haven’t pushed him to a place that we would test that. I think as we get into later this week, we’re going to have to decide if it’s time to do that, and that decision has not been made yet.”

The 24-year-old Horton has gone 11-4 with a 2.67 ERA in 23 appearances, making him a Rookie of the Year contender. The Cubs selected him out of Oklahoma with the seventh overall pick in the 2022 amateur draft.

Horton was placed on the 15-day injured list retroactive to Sept. 25 and missed the Cubs’ NL Wild Card Series victory over the San Diego Padres.

He last pitched Sept. 23 and left that game with back tightness. Counsell had indicated Horton was sick after his start before that one, causing problems with his back and ribs.

The Cubs haven’t announced their Game 1 pitching plans for this series. The Brewers are starting All-Star Freddy Peralta, who went 17-6 with a 2.70 ERA during the regular season.

“I think we’re going into this with a couple plans,” Counsell said. “We’re going to let everybody throw today and then make a decision after that. But we’ve definitely got what we’d prefer to do.”

Milwaukee also is missing one of its top starting pitchers. Two-time All-Star Brandon Woodruff is sidelined by a lat strain.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB

Steve Megargee, The Associated Press